SASRA

(The Soldiers' and Airmen's Scripture Readers Association)

(Military Evangelism)

SASRA's ministry is one of personal evangelism. Uniquely we are permitted, subject to Chaplain's recommendation and Commanding Officers' permission to visit soldiers and airmen in their accommodation, work and recreation areas. This is done with a view to befriending them and introducing them to the Lord Jesus Christ. All Scripture Readers (ASR's) have served in one or other of the Armed Services. They are all committed Christians and gifted evangelists. They have undergone a period of training and assessment before being deployed to a station with the agreement of the Ministry of Defence.

Trinity seeks to support the Army and their families on the camps at Bordon Garrision. We are blessed in having a serving ASR, Tiaan de Klerk and his family in our fellowship; Jim Downie (our current pastor) served as an ASR at the Army Training Regiment at Pirbright for ten years and his wife Debbie still works with the Chaplain’s Department there.

Reaching the Military

Latest prayer news

This is Army Scripture Reader Tiaan de Klerk serving in Bordon Garrison with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers also known as the REME, serving both in and by the grace of our Lord Jesus.

My warmest greetings to you, the elect, according to the fore knowledge of God the Father. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and support over the past year since I last had the privilege and opportunity of sending out this prayer tape.

I would like to start by asking that you would as in previous year's once again join together in pray over the points which I will bring to light shortly. And as you pray brethren be assured the Lord hears, also rejoice and be glad for we will see his glory revealed on that day when He returns and every knee bow before the Lord of Lords.

My wife is expecting our third child which we now know to be a boy and he is forecasted to arrive on the 9th April. Our other two children Sandrina who is now seven and Elijah who is two and a half are also doing well and Sandrina's interest in the Word continues to grow for which I am so grateful. Sanne my wife, as I, would much appreciate your prayer as we home school our daughter both for wisdom and discernment of all that this involves.

I should also like to share with you why I feel the ministry here with REME where they do their 2nd phase and artificer training is of such significance. Trusting that this would give you also a better understanding of the calling the Lord has given me here in Bordon. This in turn could ignite a fire in your heart's to pray even more urgently for the soldiers I deal with here on a daily basis. The soldiers from REME get posted throughout every unit in the British army they enter posts such as vehicle mechanics, Weapons technicians, metal smiths, recovery mechanics and armored vehicle mechanics to name some. This makes Bordon a real gateway to the whole of the army with every sole won by Christ becoming a light amongst his or her fellow soldiers in an ever increasing Godless society. Your prayers are central to this work as there will always be marks on our hands both for the one going down into the well to do the work and also on the hands of the one holding the rope at the top in prayer.

As such I would be blessed in knowing that you will carry the following points to the Lord in prayer. Let me start with a request for prayer for the various fellowships that run in Bordon. We have a Tuesday night bible study which has again moved location since the beginning of this year. The training wing has made their facilities available for me, which means we can now accommodate up to fifty soldiers at this study. While it was running in my house whenever we had more than five soldiers turning up it became very crowded and difficult to continue the study. Pray our Lord in His great mercy would fill this place up with hearts prepared by Him to receive the Gospel. When I started in Bordon we were able to have the fellowship in Quebec barracks which is now closed. This had a fairly large facility which we could use and we on occasions had up to twenty soldiers attending.

We also have a smaller lunchtime fellowship on Thursdays which is attended sporadically by a few soldiers; pray that more soldiers would commit to building each other up in their faith through opportunities like this.

The Lord has also been marvelous in grace by giving me an opportunity to preach the Gospel to soldiers every Friday morning. I have called this the “What About Group”. In camp there are always a number of soldier's who are in-between course modules or soldier's awaiting for posting. These soldiers get put on what is called military training which is a programme in which they refresh there basic military skills. I have been blessed by getting the opportunity to have an hour session with these soldiers every week. Here I am able to share the Gospel with them in various ways. I am never able to tell who will be there and as such I always need fresh and relevant ways of sharing the Gospel with these guys. Pray the Lord will continue to protect this slot from being taken off the roster as things often in the Army changes when personnel or appointments change. And also pray that the seed sown would produce much fruit, and praise the Lord for the fruits that have already become visible in the past couple of months.

I also want to bring to your attention the need for prayer for a few soldiers that I am currently ministering to.

Neight and I have had various Gospel conversations but a couple of nights ago he phoned me and asked if he could come to my office so that he could talk to me. He was clearly concerned where he stood with the Lord in his life. I was, for the first time, really able to share the Gospel with him from the Word. In normal circumstances when we met together he didn't pay much attention to what I said and often seemed more interested talking about his own view of things, this made it very often difficult to witness to him. But the other night we spent almost two hours in the Word. He took a Bible with him at the end and said that he would read certain passages which I referred him to. Pray that he will read those passages. Pray that he will gain a hunger for the Word. Pray that he will come to a full assurance of faith in Jesus Christ and pray he will call upon the Lord.

L is another soldier that I am involved with at the moment. He is going through a very difficult time, he is going through divorce and we have started to meet together regularly now. Pray that the Gospel will have an impact in his life and in every decisions that he has to make. Pray for his whole family in this difficult time.

R is also another soldier who I have witnessed to. It seems that he is becoming more serious about his standing before the Lord but he has not visibly made any commitments. Pray that he will repent and believe and that the Lord might regenerate him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

These are the only prayer requests I have time for in this tape. I thank you in the Lord Jesus Christ for listening and praying. May our Father in heaven richly pour out every blessing that would continue to transform you more and more into the image of His Son.